Amazon Chief Raoni Metuktire Ends Partnership with Belgian Filmmaker Jean-Pierre Dutilleux Amid Accusations of Misused Funds

Dutilleux Denies Claims of Withholding Promised Funds and Lack of Transparency, Blames Miscommunication for Dispute

Chief Raoni Metuktire of the Kayapo tribe and Belgian filmmaker Jean-Pierre Dutilleux have ended their decades-long partnership. The pair had worked together to raise funds for Brazil’s Indigenous peoples and protect their lands.
Members of Raoni's non-profit group, the Raoni Institute, and Raoni’s future successor as leader of the tribe have accused Dutilleux of promising large sums of money to fund social projects but only delivering a fraction of it. They also accuse him of refusing to be transparent about money raised in Raoni’s name.
Spanish photographer Alexis de Vilar, whose non-profit group organized a charity gala for the U.S. premiere of Dutilleux’s “Raoni” documentary in 1979, also accused Dutilleux of failing to turn over any money from ticket sales for the event.
Association Forêt Vierge, one of the several non-profit groups created to receive donations during Dutilleux's tour with Sting, claims to have given the Raoni Institute all the money it was owed. However, Raoni and others close to him say these amounts are significantly less than the millions of dollars that Dutilleux has repeatedly promised them.
Dutilleux denies the accusations, claiming he never had access to the money raised and that he is not interested in money. He attributes some of Raoni's claims to age and suggests that a lack of communication between the chief and the Raoni Institute is at the root of the chief’s discontent.